


Of Monsters and Men

by pan_dora



Series: The One With the Steo One-Shots [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Arachnophobia, M/M, Soft Theo, Spiders, Steo, Stiles/Theo - Freeform, fluffy steo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 22:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15895086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pan_dora/pseuds/pan_dora
Summary: “Isn’t the bed usually the safe haven?”Stiles snorted squirming slightly where he sat. “Obviously the manufacturer forgot to add monster repellent to mine seeing there’s currently one sprawled on top of it.” And looked illegally attractive by doing so.





	Of Monsters and Men

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt I received on my [My Tumblr](https://msmischief101.tumblr.com/):
> 
>  _ **Steo prompt…the one with arachnidphobia ?**_ by 'nonnie'. Hope you'll like it!  <3

“Ah,  _fuck_.” Cussing Stiles jumped off his bed and hurried across the room with a water bottle in his hand. Within seconds, he reached the chair in the corner – correction, the  _burning_ chair in the corner – and dumped the contents of the bottle all over it. The small fire was quenched almost immediately, and Stiles retreated hastily back to his bed from where he could observe the situation properly as well as from a safe distance. On all fours, one might add. God, he needed new friends. Normal friends.  _Human_  friends.

It appeared to be safe.  _Appeared_. But how did he make sure?

A loud thud from the window startled him, and he yelped throwing his hands in the air in a fit of panic. The simple movement followed a yelp. In his peripheral vision, he spotted a figure flailing, then falling out of his window.  _A figure-_  oh god. Stiles hurtled towards the window, almost faceplanting in his rush. He hopped onto his desk – just in case this monstrosity was still creeping around his room – and leaned out to see if someone had died or got seriously injured. What he found was Theo beating on his left arm in an attempt to suffocate the small flames.

“What are  _you_  doing here?”

Theo huffed out a breath. “I smelled smoke.”

“You’re living on the other side of town.”

Theo laughed, chanced a glance in the direction of the neighbour’s house and then jumped, landing on the windowsill without any sign of trouble. A smirk curved his lips as he cocked his head. “I was bored of slaughtering the innocent.” This guy managed to act like he would never even think about harming a fly. They both knew better. “Thought I’d visit.” He shifted closer and slipped off the desk still smirking.

“I didn’t invite you in,” Stiles reminded him turning around without dropping to the ground. Instead he glanced in the direction of the chair again, which Theo now curiously inspected. This was a bit too close for comfort. After all, these spawns of the devil could jump and creep up walls. He shuddered. Hopefully that fucking thing did not escape its scorching death – even though he hadn’t planned it. Then again, fire usually proved very effective to kill everything with more than four legs.

“What did you do?” Theo shrugged out of his jacket after inspecting its sleeve for a moment, clearly intending to make himself at home.

“Well,” Stiles said squirming a little, “there was- you know, I was working on my magic.” Without looking away from the chair, he gestured in the direction of his bed, on which multiple books were displayed in a half circle. “And then-“ Stiles motioned his hand dismissively and shrugged before getting into a cross-legged position on his desk. Although his bed seemed to be within safe distance, he didn’t trust his luck. That monstrosity was alive, he  _knew_ it, and laid in waiting for him to let his guard down. How was he supposed to sleep here tonight? He couldn’t even crash at Scott or Lydia’s. Because while his best friend was on a date with Kira, Lydia currently visited Jackson in London. Thinking about it now, he should’ve accepted the invitation and gone with her.

Theo crossed his arms, clearly amused. “Then what? The chair twitted you?”

“ _No_.”

“I’ve seen you use magic,” Theo reminded him walking back to him. “You’re not disastrous at it.” His expression as unchanging as it was unnerving, he threw his jacket over the backrest of his desk chair crossing his arms over it. “And you’re nervous.” Theo’s voice dropped low, sending tingles down Stiles’ spine. “Am I making you nervous?”

Here’s the thing; Stiles had few possible choices in his current situation, none of which were particularly delightful, none of which he would choose from if he had the choice. He could sit here through the night until his dad came home in the morning – because of fucking course he had to work the nightshift the one time Evil Incarnate snuck into his room; no, he wasn’t referring to Theo for a change – he could call Parrish and beg him to come over during his patrol, which wouldn’t be the first time, or he could tell Theo to check if the thing was dead, which was most definitively ending in him being ridiculed for the rest of his life.

Stiles groaned pressing his hands over his face as embarrassment crept up his neck. “Spider,” he uttered from between his fingers. “I panicked.”

Theo blinked. “I’m sorry  _what_?”

Reluctantly, Stiles lowered his hands feeling his cheeks heat up. “There was a spider on the chair and I panicked. My spell misfired and now I don’t know if it’s dead.”

To his sheer surprise, Theo didn’t laugh. Instead he squinted at him for a few seconds, almost like he wanted to make sure if he was pranked. It’s a possibility after all. They both could lie without their heartbeats giving them away. “To iterate,” Theo pushed himself away from the desk, “the only reason you picked up studying magic was because your father didn’t want you to run into danger equipped with only a baseball bat.” Still a little sceptical, Theo turned towards the damaged chair and got into a crouch. “But you freak out because of a spider?”

“The things I fight don’t have more than two legs in ninety-percent of the case,” Stiles defended himself leaning forward to have a better view of what Theo was doing, “and they don’t vomit digestive fluid into me to turn me into an easier to devour  _snack_.”

Theo shot him an amused look over his shoulder. That’s the little shithead Stiles knew and loved. Hated. Strongly disliked. Wasn’t attracted to at all. His brain needed a very long break. “Pretty sure no spider in the world considers you a snack.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

Now Theo’s laughing. Although it didn’t feel like he was laughing  _at_  him. “It might be a bit hard to find if you burned it to a crisp,” he stated after a few moments inching closer to the chair. On all fours. Giving Stiles a wonderful view. One that almost made him forget about the possible horrors lurking in his room. But only almost. “I can’t see anything. Where was it?”

“On the chair.”

“There’s nothing here.”  

Stiles let out a long breath. Fucking hell. With his luck, he incinerated his poor chair for nothing and that goddamn monster was still waiting for him. His father would be so pissed. After the accident with the carpet in the living room, the strict ‘no magic inside the Stilinski house’ rule had been introduced. His dad was going to ground him until he’s thirty. Or something. Who knew nowadays. The sheriff showed some weird antics ever since he had learned about the supernatural.

“It’s not going to eat you.”

Stiles crossed his arms over his chest with a scowl. “You don’t know that.”

Theo laughed again. “You know, it’s actually funny how you’re more afraid of a spider than the actual creature being able to kill you.” Shaking his head, he sprawled onto the bed kicking off his loosely tied Chucks and pushed a couple of grimoires away to make room on the bed. The guy looked as if he had no intention to leave anytime soon.

Stiles didn’t quite know how to feel about this. “What, you?” He asked narrowing his eyes slightly. Theo could cause enough damage without knowing about magic. He didn’t like him this close to another power source. But he would have to run across his room to get there, and if the spider wasn’t at the chair it’s very likely somewhere else. Scanning his room warily, he glanced at the chimera. “I’m more afraid of failing AP Psychology.”

Theo rolled onto his back. “You have an A plus.” To be fair, he shouldn’t be that surprised about Theo knowing exactly what grades he had. They suffered together under their obnoxious psychology teacher. The amounts of times they both rolled their eyes was worrying.

“My point still stands.”

Theo scrutinised him for a few moments, expression searching, looking perfectly at home in his bed – like he belonged there, like he should never leave it.  _Ever_. Which reminded him, he needed sleep. Desperately. It’s not healthy to give free rein to this kind of thoughts. “Are you going to sit on your desk the whole night?”

“If I have to.”

“Isn’t the bed usually the safe haven?”

Stiles snorted squirming slightly where he sat. “Obviously the manufacturer forgot to add monster repellent to mine seeing there’s currently one sprawled on top of it.” And looked illegally attractive by doing so.

_This godforsaken spider._

Theo got back onto his feet in a swift movement. Four long strides later, he stood in front of the desk kicking the chair out of the way. “Come on.” He reached out his hands beckoning Stiles to come closer.

“Come on  _what_?”

“I’ll carry you to your bed.”

“I’m sorry, you’re doing what now?”

Theo shot him an exasperated look. With his arms outstretched like that, he had a striking resemblance to someone whose hug had been rejected. But since Theo was Theo, he didn’t wait much longer. Instead he forced one arm underneath Stiles’ left leg, hooking his fingers around the hollow of his knee. Stiles swatted at him once. Missing, of fucking course, and making a high-pitched sound in the back of his throat. Because this wasn’t already awkward. Theo manhandled him into the position he wanted without much preamble, and Stiles probably should’ve struggled a bit harder instead of simply accepting his fate and letting Theo carry him to the bed. Bridal-style. Because the piece of shit chimera had to make it even more embarrassing than it was anyway.

With a soft sigh, Theo dropped him onto his bed. “Not as heavy as you look,” he commented dryly flopping down next to him.

Stiles snatched one of the grimoires Theo had shoved aside and dropped it in his lap, a protection of sorts, something to flick through so he’d look busy. “I take that as a compliment?” He squinted at the lounging chimera, trying to figure out what to make of this weird situation. Theo was laying on his bed, well-defined arms crossed behind his head, eyes half-closed. His muscle shirt had scrunched up at his waist, revealing slightly tanned skin, a basically invisible happy trail and a tiny bit of what seemed like a very nice V-line. It’s hard not to touch, to pull the top further up in order to see if he was correct in his assumption. 

It’s impossible not to stare.

“Take it however you want,” Theo uttered in a low voice, almost a drawl. His eyes closed a big further. He looked relaxed, fully at ease, even if dead tired – although his feet both touched potential spider territory. Stiles had never seen him like this before. Despite all his confidence and bravado, Theo tended to hide certain aspects of himself. Even though he had broken character more than once when Stiles had been present, he’d never fully let his guard down.

Stiles swallowed around the lump in his throat. “You gonna fall asleep on me?”

Theo didn’t reply for a few seconds. “Saving you is exhausting.”

“You didn’t save me.”

Again, the time until he got a response from the chimera grew longer. Seemed like he didn’t just look half-asleep. “Going to,” Theo mumbled eventually. “Spider's as good as dead.”

“All right,” Stiles said decisively – he had to do something, or he’d fall into the trap of running his fingers through Theo’s hair. “Come on, in bed with you.” Albeit tentatively, he reached out to curl his fingers into the fabric of the muscle shirt and tugged slightly at it. The only respond he got was a grunt. Fantastic. Exactly what he needed on top of a fucking spider; a grumpy, practically asleep Theo Raeken. “Come on. Don’t make me drag you.”

Groaning audibly, Theo blinked his eyes open. He glared at him for a second, like it’s his fault he was falling asleep in an uncomfortable position. But only a moment later, he fumbled with his belt, taking so long Stiles itched to help him. Which seemed like a bad idea. And yet, he really, really wanted to get the guy out of his pants. Not good. Not good at all. Like a sensible person, Stiles busied himself with flipping through his grimoire. He didn’t want to be the idiot misreading things. He didn’t want to let himself fall in the trap of liking him when Theo’s just not that into him as it might seem. Maybe he’s just here for a place to crash. He’d keep his thoughts under control from now on.

Theo yanked the blanket free under him, and Stiles chanced a glance over his shoulder. A small pang of heat travelled into regions better left alone when someone else was around, especially someone one wasn’t in an intimate relationship with. But, fucking hell, Theo in only tight boxer briefs definitively was a sight to behold. He was totally correct about the V-line, by the way.

And gone was his resolution. 

Although he probably shouldn’t keep staring – if Theo noticed anything, he didn’t mention it – Stiles couldn’t help himself. Instead of heat, however, a certain kind of dread pooled in his stomach as he tucked himself in. It reminded him of the truth about a living situation Theo would never say out loud unless Stiles directly confronted him with it. He knew because Parrish had told him a few nights ago that he’d found Theo sleeping in his truck. Although it’s not allowed, he hadn’t woken him up telling his partner the car had been empty. Last night didn't seem to have gone over so well. Stiles wasn’t in the position to offer help, but he’d be willing to do so in case Theo ever decided to ask for it.

“Great protection you are,” he joked half-heartedly shaking his head with the smallest of smiles.

Theo muttered something inaudible, already more asleep than awake. But he reached his hand out to tug at Stiles’ clothes. “Okay,  _okay_.” Unable to hide his amusement or the excited flutter of his heart, he pushed the books to the foot of the bed and laid down. The blanket was draped over him instantly and a moment later, an arm wrapped around his waist to pull him closer. The body resting against his back felt unfamiliar at first, so different from Malia's, from what he was used to. But he felt warm and protected either way. Stupid, wasn’t it? To feel this way about someone who could kill you in a heartbeat.

“Stiles?”

“Yeah?”

Theo's breath brushed over his shoulder and neck. Silence followed his reply, so long Stiles thought he had already fallen asleep. “Goodnight,” he mumbled eventually. It didn’t feel like that’s what he had intended to say but Stiles didn't push it - for some reason, he had an inkling what it might be anyway.

“Goodnight, Theo.” And he closed his eyes, pressing his lips together to hide the smile from nobody in particular.

 

When his father woke him up for breakfast after his shift like he always did, he was too distracted by what he saw happening in his son's bed to notice the scorched chair in the corner of his room. Which was his luck. Because he wasn’t awake enough to be yelled at.

“Spider,” Stiles muttered as a flimsy excuse for waking up cuddling with Theo.

John nodded, very slowly. “Breakfast,” he ordered in a warning tone gesturing back and forth with one finger, indicating that he had spent too much time with Melissa over the course of the last few months. “Both of you.  _Now_.” He turned on his heels and was already on the stairs as he decided to add the probably most important new rule in the household, “I want the door open at all times, you understand?”

Theo yawn-laughed and Stiles hid his face in his hands. “There really was a spider.”

“Nah. You burnt it.”

“You little shithead.” But he smiled at Theo, whose lips quirked into a small smirk, one much softer than those Stiles knew so well. They looked at each other in complete silence. It’s obvious where this was leading, obvious that the rapid beating of his heart wasn’t a consequence of his father catching him in bed with Theoof all people. So, to shorten the weird tension, he pulled the chimera in by the nape of his neck, heart skipping a beat as their lips met for the first time, feeling Theo smiling into the kiss, seeing his eyes light up before fluttering close. If they had to deal with his overworked father giving them a lecture at six o'clock in the morning, they both should at least be on the same page.

Theo hummed. “If this is what I get when I protect you from a dead spider, I wonder what’s in store for me when I vanquish one alive.”

Stiles grinned against his lips. “Guess you have to stick around to figure that out.”

“Oh, I will. Believe me, I will.”


End file.
